Learn Mando'a

This is my first time trying to translate so I started with the Mandalorian Code.

Mando Urmankala
1. Chotav cuyi oyacy, par dral ganar staabi ke’gyce.
2. Ijaat cuyi oyacy, par ti n’ijaat solus Vercopa cuyir kyr’am.
3. Verburyc cuyi oyacy, par ures gar alit solus gana nunarser.
4. Kyr’am cuyi oyacy, solus linibala ramaanar as val ru’oyacyi.

Mandalorian Creed
1. Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule.
2. Honor is life, for with no honor one may as well be dead.
3. Loyalty is life, for without one’s clan one has no purpose.
4. Death is life, one should die as they have lived.

any comments would be appreciated.

I took a stab at this one a while back, the way it turned out for me was:

Kote cuy oya'cye, par te kotyc juri buirkan at ke'gyce.

Ijaat cuy oya'cye, par ures ijaat solus juaan kyrayc.

Verbur cuy oya'cye, par ures aliit, solus nu'gana narser.

Kyr'am cuy oya'cye, par an'ade entey ramaanar sa val oyayc.

The thing I've noted with translations is Mando'a is a very open language. If you look at the Canon songs, they're written in a very poetic, metaphorical manner. With this, I feel like the differences in people's translations serve more to show their particular opinion on ideas, rather than one being more correct than another.

Naux:
- Chotav cuyi oyacy, par dral ganar staabi ke’gyce.
Not sure what you meant by chotav. Chortav is street? Ganar shouldn't be infinitive.
- Ijaat cuyi oyacy, par ti n’ijaat solus Vercopa cuyir kyr’am.
Don't capitalize vercopa.
- Verburyc cuyi oyacy, par ures gar alit solus gana nunarser.
Dont use both gar and solus. Pick one. Vlet's choice of verbur is a good choice for loyalty.
- Kyr’am cuyi oyacy, solus linibala ramaanar as val ru’oyacyi.
I dont like linibala, personally. Id stay away from turning verbs into adjectives. Just liniba works. Don't mix solus with val. I dont see the need for the ru'. But that's my style. There's nothing grammatically wrong with it.

A few little things grammar-wise. A Mando would understand you.
Good job.

Vlet:
- Kote cuy oya'cye, par te kotyc juri buirkan at ke'gyce.
Kote is glory, kot is strength. Te is almost always dropped, but thats style not grammar. At is directional. Bah is what you're looking for.
- Ijaat cuy oya'cye, par ures ijaat solus juaan kyrayc.
This sounds a bit odd. Again, style.
- Verbur cuy oya'cye, par ures aliit, solus nu'gana narser.
Good pick for loyalty.
- Kyr'am cuy oya'cye, par an'ade entey ramaanar sa val oyayc.
Keep the o at the end of entey.

Overall, good translation.

Vlet Hansen wrote: The thing I've noted with translations is Mando'a is a very open language. If you look at the Canon songs, they're written in a very poetic, metaphorical manner. With this, I feel like the differences in people's translations serve more to show their particular opinion on ideas, rather than one being more correct than another.

Exactly. In Mando'a, five people will probably come up with five translations.
Sometimes I wish KT would have given us more canonical translations for that reason.

You know the thing about this that amazes me? The, say, ten or so of us that are really active on this forum might well be the most experienced with this language. We might literally be the best people on the planet at something.

It's like being a scholar, except for the part where it's... y'know, not.

Vlet Hansen wrote:You know the thing about this that amazes me? The, say, ten or so of us that are really active on this forum might well be the most experienced with this language. We might literally be the best people on the planet at something.

It's like being a scholar, except for the part where it's... y'know, not.

Oya! Kandosii!

Here's my try. As it's my first attempt at serious translation, point out all the stuff that's wrong or could be better - I don't want to be building bad habits, after all.

Kot cuyir Oyar - kotyc ganar alorir.
Ijaat cuyir Oyar - n'ijaat, dar’manda.
Verburyc cuyir Oyar - n’aliit, nu’narser
Kyr’am cuyir Oyar - gar enteyor kyr’am aras ibac ru’Oyar.

I'd drop the infinitives off things like cuyir. I like how short and snappy it sounds when you say it.

Vlet Hansen wrote:I'd drop the infinitives off things like cuyir.

That would make the first line as follows:

Kot cuy Oyar - kotyc gana alorir.

Right? "Strength is Life - [the] strong have [the] lead"
And so on...

Vlet Hansen wrote: I like how short and snappy it sounds when you say it.

Thank you! Finding some of the shortcuts was rather fun (especially equating "one may as well be dead" to dar'manda, that just made sense in my head and is probably my favourite part).

Nailed it.

Excellent, thank you for your help. I'll tidy up the rest of the translation shortly.

[EDIT]

Kot cuy Oyar - kotyc gana alorir.
Ijaat cuy Oyar - n'ijaat, dar'manda.
Verburyc cuy Oyar - n'alitt, nu'narser.
Kyr'am cuy Oyar - gar enteyor kyr'am aras ibac ru'Oyar.

Personally, I would un-infinitize enteyor, and use kyr'amu (die) instead of kyr'am (death).

On the other hand, what does aras mean?

Also, just so you know, it's aliit with two i's and one t, not alitt with one i and two t's.